System and method for removing a workpiece from a manufacturing fixture

Abstract

A flay assembly for separating a workpiece from a manufacturing fixture has a horizontal beam assembly and a pair of vertical beam assemblies. The horizontal beam assembly includes a horizontal beam having a horizontal drive motor. Each vertical beam assembly includes a vertical beam operably engaged to the horizontal drive motor and has a workpiece attachment assembly operably engaged to a vertical drive motor. The workpiece attachment assembly has an attachment mechanism attachable to the workpiece. The horizontal drive motor and the vertical drive motors are operable in a manner to move the vertical beams away from each other along a horizontal drive axis while simultaneously moving each workpiece attachment assembly along a vertical drive axis to cause the attachment mechanisms to pull the workpiece side portions away from the manufacturing fixture while a center support of the horizontal beam maintains a workpiece crown in contact with the manufacturing fixture.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A flay system for separating a workpiece from a manufacturing fixture, comprising:
 at least one flay assembly, including:
 a horizontal beam assembly, including:
 a horizontal beam having a center support; 
 a horizontal drive mechanism mounted to the horizontal beam and having a horizontal drive motor and a horizontal beam track system defining a horizontal drive axis; 
 
 a pair of vertical beam assemblies mounted to the horizontal beam assembly in spaced relation to each other, each vertical beam assembly including:
 a vertical beam having a vertical beam top portion coupled to the horizontal beam track system and operably engaged to the horizontal drive motor for driving the vertical beam assembly along the horizontal drive axis; 
 a vertical drive mechanism mounted to the vertical beam and having a vertical drive motor and a vertical beam track system defining a vertical drive axis; 
 a workpiece attachment assembly coupled to the vertical beam track system and operably engaged to the vertical drive motor for driving the workpiece attachment assembly along the vertical drive axis; 
 the workpiece attachment assembly including an attachment mechanism configured to be removably attached to one of opposing workpiece side portions of a workpiece supported on a manufacturing fixture; and 
 
 
 the horizontal drive motor and the vertical drive motors configured to operate in a coordinated manner to move the vertical beams away from each other along the horizontal drive axis while simultaneously moving each workpiece attachment assembly along a corresponding vertical drive axis to cause the attachment mechanisms to pull the workpiece side portions away from the manufacturing fixture. 
 
     
     
       2. The flay system of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the horizontal drive mechanism of the horizontal beam assembly and the vertical drive mechanism of each of the vertical beam assemblies include a threaded shaft rotatably driven respectively by the horizontal drive motor and the vertical drive motor; 
 the vertical beam top portion of each vertical beam having a drive fitting coupled to a nut engaged to the threaded shaft of the horizontal drive mechanism for converting rotation of the threaded shaft into linear motion of the vertical beam along the horizontal drive axis; and 
 the workpiece attachment assembly of each vertical beam assembly having a drive fitting coupled to a nut engaged to the threaded shaft of the vertical drive mechanism for converting rotation of the threaded shaft into linear motion of the workpiece attachment assembly along the vertical drive axis. 
 
     
     
       3. The flay system of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the horizontal drive motor and the vertical drive motors are operable in a coordinated manner to cause the attachment mechanism of each workpiece attachment assembly to move outwardly along a deflection arc generally centered at an intersection of a workpiece inner surface and a vertical plane that is coincident with a longitudinal axis of the workpiece. 
 
     
     
       4. The flay system of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the workpiece attachment assembly includes an attachment assembly pivot joint coupling the attachment mechanism to the vertical drive mechanism; and 
 the attachment assembly pivot joint limiting movement of the attachment mechanism to pivoting about a roll axis and a yaw axis of the attachment mechanism. 
 
     
     
       5. The flay system of  claim 1 , wherein the attachment mechanism comprises:
 at least one vacuum plate having an array of vacuum cups fluidly coupled to a vacuum source for vacuum attachment of the workpiece attachment assembly to a workpiece outer surface at the workpiece side portion. 
 
     
     
       6. The flay system of  claim 1 , further including:
 a center support centered between the pair of vertical beam assemblies and having at least one support pad extending outwardly from the horizontal beam and configured to be locally tangent to a workpiece outer surface at a workpiece crown. 
 
     
     
       7. The flay system of  claim 1 , further including:
 a rotary encoder coupled to each one of the horizontal drive motor and the vertical drive motor and configured to measure angular motion respectively of the horizontal drive motor and the vertical drive motor, and generate an encoder signal representative thereof; and 
 a processor configured to receive the encoder signal from each rotary encoder, determine a motion of each of the attachment mechanisms, and generate a time-history of outward deflection of each of the workpiece side portions from an initial position of each attachment mechanism to a final position of each attachment mechanism. 
 
     
     
       8. The flay system of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the at least one flay assembly comprises a plurality of flay assemblies arranged in spaced parallel relation to each other; and 
 the horizontal drive mechanisms and the vertical drive mechanisms of the flay assemblies are operated in a synchronized manner to start outward deflection of the workpiece side portions at each flay assembly at approximately the same time. 
 
     
     
       9. The flay system of  claim 1 , further including:
 a processor; 
 a memory communicatively coupled to the processor and configured to store a database of one or more workpiece configurations and corresponding program files defining a movement profile of the attachment mechanisms of the flay system; and 
 the processor configured to execute one of the program files for controlling the horizontal drive mechanisms and vertical drive mechanisms for moving the attachment mechanisms according to the movement profile. 
 
     
     
       10. A flay system for separating a workpiece from a manufacturing fixture, comprising:
 a plurality of flay assemblies, each including:
 a horizontal beam assembly, including:
 a horizontal beam having a center support; 
 a pair of horizontal drive mechanisms mounted to the horizontal beam and each having a horizontal drive motor and a horizontal beam track system defining a horizontal drive axis; 
 
 a pair of vertical beam assemblies mounted to the horizontal beam assembly in spaced relation to each other, each vertical beam assembly including:
 a vertical beam having a vertical beam top portion coupled to the horizontal beam track system and operably engaged to the horizontal drive motor of one of the horizontal drive mechanisms for driving the vertical beam assembly along the horizontal drive axis; 
 a vertical drive mechanism mounted to the vertical beam and having a vertical drive motor and a vertical beam track system defining a vertical drive axis; 
 a workpiece attachment assembly coupled to the vertical beam track system and operably engaged to the vertical drive motor for driving the workpiece attachment assembly along the vertical drive axis; 
 the workpiece attachment assembly including an attachment mechanism configured to be removably attached to one of opposing workpiece side portions of a workpiece supported on a manufacturing fixture; and 
 
 
 the horizontal drive motors and the vertical drive motors configured to operate in a coordinated manner to move the vertical beams away from each other along the horizontal drive axis while simultaneously moving each workpiece attachment assembly along a corresponding vertical drive axis to cause the attachment mechanisms to pull the workpiece side portions away from the manufacturing fixture while the center support maintains a workpiece crown in contact with the manufacturing fixture. 
 
     
     
       11. A method of separating a workpiece from a manufacturing fixture, comprising:
 positioning a center support of a horizontal beam assembly of at least one flay assembly of a flay system into contact with a workpiece crown of a workpiece having an inner surface geometry supported on a manufacturing fixture; 
 removably attaching a pair of attachment mechanisms of a corresponding pair of workpiece attachment assemblies respectively to opposing workpiece side portions of the workpiece, each workpiece attachment assembly being movably coupled to a vertical beam track system and operably engaged to a vertical drive motor of a vertical drive mechanism of a vertical beam assembly, each vertical beam assembly coupled to a horizontal beam track system and operably engaged to a horizontal drive motor of a horizontal drive mechanism of the horizontal beam assembly; and 
 operating the horizontal drive motor and the vertical drive motors in a coordinated manner to move the vertical beam assemblies away from each other along a horizontal drive axis while simultaneously moving each workpiece attachment assembly along a corresponding vertical drive axis to cause the pair of attachment mechanisms to outwardly deflect the workpiece side portions away from the manufacturing fixture. 
 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 11 , wherein the step of operating the horizontal drive motor and the vertical drive motors in a coordinated manner includes:
 rotating a threaded shaft of the horizontal beam assembly using the horizontal drive motor, and converting rotation of the threaded shaft of the horizontal beam assembly into linear motion of a pair of the vertical beam assemblies along the horizontal drive axis using a pair of nuts engaged to the threaded shaft and respectively coupled to the pair of vertical beam assemblies; and 
 rotating a pair of threaded shafts respectively of the pair of vertical beam assemblies using a pair of vertical drive motors, and converting rotation of the threaded shaft of each vertical beam assembly into linear motion of one of the workpiece attachment assemblies along the corresponding vertical drive axis using a nut engaged to the threaded shaft of the vertical beam assembly and respectively coupled to one of the workpiece attachment assemblies. 
 
     
     
       13. The method of  claim 11 , wherein the step of operating the horizontal drive motor and the vertical drive motors in a coordinated manner includes:
 operating the horizontal drive motor and the vertical drive motors in a coordinated manner to cause the attachment mechanism of each workpiece attachment assembly to simultaneously move outwardly along a deflection arc generally centered at an intersection of a workpiece inner surface and a vertical plane that is coincident with a longitudinal axis of the workpiece. 
 
     
     
       14. The method of  claim 11 , wherein each workpiece attachment assembly includes an attachment assembly pivot joint coupling the attachment mechanism to the corresponding vertical drive mechanism, the method further including:
 limiting, using an attachment assembly pivot joint of each workpiece attachment assembly, movement of the attachment mechanism to pivoting about a roll axis and a yaw axis of the attachment mechanism. 
 
     
     
       15. The method of  claim 11 , wherein the step of removably attaching a pair of attachment mechanisms respectively to opposing workpiece side portions of the workpiece comprises:
 attaching, using vacuum pressure, at least one vacuum plate to each of the opposing workpiece side portions. 
 
     
     
       16. The method of  claim 11 , wherein the step of positioning the center support into contact with the workpiece crown includes:
 orienting a support pad locally tangent to a workpiece outer surface at the workpiece crown when the workpiece attachment assemblies are attached respectively to the opposing workpiece side portions. 
 
     
     
       17. The method of  claim 11 , further including:
 measuring angular motion of the horizontal drive motor and the vertical drive motors using a rotary encoder coupled thereto, and generating at each rotary encoder an encoder signal representative thereof; 
 determining, using a processor receiving the encoder signal from each rotary encoder, a motion of each of the attachment mechanisms; and 
 generating, based on the motion of the attachment mechanisms, a time-history of outward deflection of each of the workpiece side portions starting from an initial position of each attachment mechanism to a final position of each attachment mechanism. 
 
     
     
       18. The method of  claim 11 , wherein the flay system includes a plurality of flay assemblies arranged in spaced parallel relation to each other, the step of operating the horizontal drive motor and the vertical drive motors in a coordinated manner including:
 controlling, using a processor, the horizontal drive mechanisms and vertical drive mechanisms of all of the flay assemblies in a synchronized manner such that outward deflection of the workpiece side portions at each flay assembly starts at approximately the same time. 
 
     
     
       19. The method of  claim 11 , further including:
 storing, in a memory communicatively coupled to a processor, a database of one or more workpiece configurations and corresponding program files defining for each workpiece configuration in the database a movement profile of all of the attachment mechanisms in the flay system; and 
 retrieving one of the movement profiles from the memory for use by the processor in controlling the horizontal drive motor and the vertical drive motors for removal of the workpiece from the manufacturing fixture. 
 
     
     
       20. The method of  claim 11 , wherein:
 the workpiece is a skin panel; and 
 the manufacturing fixture is a layup mandrel.